Supporters of Nurses Middle College make the case to establish a public charter school focused on preparing students for a nursing career

Students taking part in a summer camp affiliated with Nurses Middle College (Photo by Nurses Middle College)

Ana Chicas says she felt confident enrolling in Belmont University’s nursing program three years ago.

Chicas graduated from Metro Nashville Public School’s healthcare pathway at Glencliff High School and thought she was adequately prepared for what a college nursing program would involve.  She now believes she was wrong.

Ana Chicas speaking at last week's public hearing (Screenshot)

“I quickly realized that there was a significant disconnect between the college content and what I was taught in high school,” said Chicas. “We take anatomy for a whole year during high school and after that I felt prepared and walked into college and I received my first and only “C.” I needed more information and even more experiences for what I was walking into.”

That disconnect is exactly what Dr. Andrea Poynter believes the proposed Nurses Middle College she hopes to lead will help prevent. 

The public charter high school would infuse nursing lessons into every part of school curriculum, even history and math. Poynter also says the proposed school will focus on helping more students of color enter nursing and put all students on quicker path to a degree. She says some students will graduate with more than 20 college credits.

 “The dual-enrollment college credits start at tenth-grade. Career preparedness, the internships, the CNA (certified nursing assistant) certificate, they finish that by the eleventh-grade to give them an opportunity to work and be emersed in a healthcare environment because it’s more than just having an experience. You need to be emersed in the environment,” said Poynter. “The students when they come into these environments, sometimes it’s overwhelming and it’s a lot. So them being emersed into this environment it is beneficial and it’s helpful for them to determine and see what it is that they’re walking into and to determine if this is something that works for me.”

Dr. Andrea Poynter (left) overseeing a summer camp for potential Nurses Middle College students over the summer (Photo by Sky Arnold)

Nurses Middle College currently operates two other public charter schools in other states. Dr. Poynter put on a summer camp for potential students over the summer in Nashville and she says more than 300 families have expressed interest in sending their children to the proposed school.

Members of the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board of Education voted the application to start Nurses Middle College down last July and school leaders appealed to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission hoping to overturn that denial. Charter schools are free public schools operated by an independent contract or “charter” with an authorizing agency like a school district.

Dr. Poynter and Chicas spoke in support of that appeal at a public hearing last week, along with representatives from Metro Nashville Public Schools who asked the governor appointed commission to uphold the school board’s vote.

MNPS board members denied Nurses in part because the Middle Tennessee school district has existing health sciences programs at ten schools that allow students to take coursework in nursing and receive college credits.

Emily Masters (Photo by Emily Masters for Schools)

Former MNPS Board of Education member Emily Masters was among those speaking against Nurses at the public hearing. Masters has daughter who attends one of MNPS’ healthcare programs and she says she voted against Nurses application in July because she doesn’t feel a school with such a specific focus is what Nashville needs.

“At MNPS our motto is every student known not every workforce need met so we really do try to tailor what we are doing in our schools around ensuring every student can have multiple options in their education,” said Master. “It is not the responsibility of public schools to fulfill any workforce need but rather to enable students to discover and learn about themselves, college and career options, and to enable them to find their passion and purpose.”

Supporters of Nurses Middle College disagree. They believe a school that’s focused on nursing will help address the state’s nursing shortage with students who are better prepared for college than Chicas was coming out of MNPS.

“I believe this is important because it allows students to be exposed to the world of healthcare early on and focus on their paths in the medical field. It provides entry level preparation for any level of healthcare from a nursing viewpoint,” said Chicas.

The state commission will use comments from the public hearing to decide the appeal for Nurses Middle College next month. Last year the commission overturned one MNPS charter application denial and upheld another.

MNPS school board members haven’t voted to approve a new public charter school since 2021 despite those schools outperforming peer district run schools on state tests.